Itinerary through Corsica | Page 3

It, as well as most of the roads into the interior,
should not be taken till the chestnut trees are in leaf 33
FOLELLI to STAZZONA by coach daily. Stazzona is the village
nearest to the Spa of Orezza. The road extends to Ponte alla Leccia 33
VESCOVATO STATION to PORTA, by coach daily, passing
Vescovato, Venzolasca and Silvareccio. In summer the coach goes on
to Piedicroce 34
PONTE ALLA LECCIA to PIEDICROCE by "Courrier" daily 34
Piedicroce to Prunete-Railway Station, the finest part of the road being
between Piedicroce and Castagneto. Coach from Castagneto to Prunete
by Cervione. From Castagneto or Alesani to Prunete see Prunete to
Alesani, on p. 33 35
SOLENZARA, on the S.E. coast, to SARTÈNE, 46 m. S.W., by a
forest road with much fine scenery 36
HISTORY, HABITS, AGRICULTURE and HOUSES OF REFUGE,
called "Maison" in the index 37
LIST OF MAPS.
Page
Sketch Map of the Riviera and Corsica, showing the relative position of
their principal towns; as also the ports connected with each other by

steamboat Fly-leaf
General Map of Corsica 1
Plan of Ajaccio. --The town is built on rising ground 3
Environs of Ajaccio 6
The Western Central Region. --This is the least known and the most
difficult portion of the island to traverse. Yet easy and picturesque short
excursions may be made from Porto, Evisa and Galeria, into the forests
of evergreen oaks, etc 20
Central Corsica, or the most troublesome part of the grand highway,
which traverses Corsica from south to north, from Sartène to Ponte alla
Leccia, whence it ramifies eastward to Bastia and westward to Calvi
and Ile Rousse. It joins the railway and the road between Ajaccio and
Corté near Vivario 27

CORSICA
Is situated 54 miles W. from Leghorn, 98 m. S. from Genoa, and 106 m.
S.E. from Nice. It is 116 m. long, 52 m. broad, and contains an area of
3376 square miles; divided into 5 arrondissements, subdivided into 62
cantons, and these again into 363 communes, with a population of
275,000. The surface, of which little more than a tenth is under
cultivation, is composed of lofty and rugged granite mountain chains,
diverging in all directions from the culminating peaks of Mounts Cinto,
8892 ft.; Rotondo, 8613 ft.; Pagliorba, 8278 ft.; Padro, 7846 ft.; and
Oro, 8829 ft. On the western and southern sides of the island these
ranges terminate abruptly on the shore, or run out into the sea; while,
on the eastern side, a great undulating plain intervenes between their
termination and the coast, in summer troubled with malaria, but in a
less degree than formerly.
Corsica is the central region of the great plant system of the
Mediterranean. Among the many fine forests which cover the

mountains, the most important are those of Valdoniello, Filosorma,
Vizzavona Verde, Zonza, Bavella, Ometa and Calenzana. They contain
noble specimens of pines, oaks, beech, chestnut, walnut and olive trees.
The cork oak forms woods, chiefly in the south of the island. The
chestnut trees are as large and fruitful as the best on the Apennines, and
the nuts form the staple article of food for man and beast during the
winter months. Indeed, these glorious chestnut and beech forests, when
in full foliage, are the grand features of Corsican scenery, which
therefore cannot be seen to advantage till towards the end of May, and
if to this we add the splendid bloom of the oleanders, not till July. "I at
any rate know of no such combination of sea and mountains, of the
sylvan beauty of the north with the rich colours of the south; no region
where within so small a space nature takes so many sublime and
exquisite aspects as she does in Corsica. Palms, orange groves, olives,
vines, maize and chestnuts; the most picturesque beech forests, the
noblest pine woods in Europe; granite peaks, snows and frozen
lakes--all these are brought into the compass of a day's journey.
Everything is as novel to the Alpine climber as if, in place of being on a
fragment of the Alps, severed only by 100 miles from their nearest
snows, he was in a different continent."--D. W. Freshfield, Alpine
Club.
[Map: Corsica]
[Headnote: VEGETATION.]
The prickly pear, the American aloe, the castor-oil plant and the fig-tree,
grow wild along the coast; while a little farther upwards, on the slopes
and plateaus, the arbutus, cistus, oleander, myrtle and various kinds of
heaths, form a dense coppice, called in the island maqui, supplying an
excellent covert for various kinds of game and numerous blackbirds.
When the arbutus and myrtle berries are ripe the blackbirds are eagerly
hunted, as at that time they are plump and make very savoury and
delicate eating.
There are few cows on the island, the greater part of the milk